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RAND Center for Population Health and Health Disparities Data Core Series

In order to advance the understanding of the links
between environment, behavior, and health, the National Institutes of
Health established eight Centers for Population Health and Health
Disparities; of which, the RAND Center is one. The RAND Center for
Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD), along with the other
centers, shares an overall goal: to support cutting-edge research to
understand and reduce differences in health outcomes, access, and
care.

The CPHHD is a part of RAND Health and has five basic
objectives:

(1) Study the effects of
neighborhoods on health throughout the life cycle and the pathways by
which these effects are felt.

(2) Develop a rich
data resource that can be used to enhance understanding of how
neighborhoods influence health.

(3) Develop robust
community-based participatory research partnerships within each of the
three cities in which RAND is located (Santa Monica, California; the
Washington, D.C. area; and Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania).

(4) Foster a community of
interdisciplinary researchers - particularly biological and social
scientists - focused on the social determinants of health,
specifically the role of neighborhoods.

(5) Inform
public policies aimed at improving population
health.

The CPHHD Data Core Series is a dynamic
collection composed of a wide selection of analytical measures,
encompassing a variety of domains, all derived from a number of
disparate data sources. The purpose of the CPHHD Data Core series is
to provide projects with the data tools necessary to conduct quality,
population-based, health-relevant research. There are currently seven
studies derived for a variety of substantive areas including:
Cost-of-Living, Disability, Pollution, Segregation Indices, Street
Connectivity, an Index of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, and an
Abridged Decennial Census. The CPHHD Data Core's central focus is on
geographic measures for census tracts, counties, and Metropolitan
Statistical Areas (MSAs) from two distinct geo-reference points, 1990
and 2000. The number and comprehensiveness of the measures derived
within each data set vary according to the expansiveness of the
substantive area. Generally speaking, the time periods for which these
data are available is the 1990-2000 time period, though data are
available for years before and after this time frame, depending upon
the data
set.